Randum Fancy

Let’s Talk About Shoes

2012-01-30T05:57:00.000-07:00

I LOVE shoes, It’s one of my favorite things! So it’s no surprise my little one has lots of shoes too. And if she could walk she would have 5 times this many because little shoes are SO cute!

But today I want to talk about Baby Girl’s handmade shoes!

Mrs. Malty

Aren’t these ADORABLE!!!?? Just as adorable as the shoes is Erika from Oops I Craft My Pants and The Fairy Blog Mother {my Blog Designer} who gave them to her. Erika’s Mamma made them and sells others in her shop HERE, Mrs. Malty. Sadly, she has outgrown these, but wore them to church often and I am too sad to box them up with her clothes.

Acoustic Stitch

Another one of my adorable friends makes these fabulous shoes!!! I LOVE them because they do not fall off Baby Girl’s feet and they bend well allowing her to crawl and “walk” in ease and keep her piggies warm since she can’t seem to keep socks on. I LOVE them so much I ordered two pairs so as soon as she grows out of one she has another to jump right into. You can order some from The Acoustic Stitch Design along with other cute things!

Beck-A-Boo

Lastly, are these amazing boots from Becca’s Etsy shop Beck-A-Boo Crafts. She has a super cute blog too, go HERE. I actually won these on a giveaway at “ And Here’s To You, Mrs. Robinson” and was ESTATIC! Becca was great to work with and super fast at getting them shipped! I got them the week of Christmas and was SO excited because she was able to wear them with this outfit!

I know… a little overkill, but c’mon she is the cutest little elf you ever saw, right!?

In fact, Megan at “and here’s to you, Mrs. Robinson” is hosting a HUGE giveaway that includes a credit to Beck-A-Boo’s etsy shop!! The giveaway ends tomorrow so hurry over!!!

*for some reason I can’t find any pics of her in the other shoes! :( Makes me even more upset that she has outgrown them!

We Wish You A Merry Christmas!

2011-12-22T13:45:00.001-07:00

When we got our family pictures done by Pictures By Fancy Pants I brought this white board along so we could possibly do a Christmas card. (I added the words at Picnik.com and ordered the prints thru shutterfly.com) When I got the images back I couldn’t pick a favorite because Kassel is just too cute so I made this trio and sent them out to all our grandparents and parents along with the picture of Kas and the lights.

she totally grabbed the board all on her own! It was too cute!

And seriously, how can you not LOVE this one!?

I hope you all have a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS and a Happy and Safe New Year!

Holly Jolly, Merry & Bright Christmas

2011-12-21T13:36:00.001-07:00

I think I should change my blog name to “Things I Made From Pinterest”! I haven’t had much time to craft or create, but the couple things I have done I have gotten the ideas from Pinterest. I wish I could take credit for the original ideas, but I am just not that creative!

When my baby was first born I stumbled upon THIS post on Pinterest by Photographer Caroline Tran and knew that Baby Girl would be the perfect age at Christmas time to use this idea for our Christmas card. Mine definitly did NOT turn out as great as the original because my camera is AWFUL and I am by no means a photographer. But I think I got a great Christmas card out of it and of course I have the cutest subject!! ;) I used Picnik to edit the picture and Picasa to add the words. (I downloaded the cute font from KevinandAmanda.com for free) Then I ordered the prints through Shutterfly.

Then I needed some little Christmas goodie/gift for the adorable preschoolers I help teach. So I, of course, turned to Pinterest and found this simple and cheap idea HERE by Pioneer Party and Gift.

I used some scrapbook paper I had laying around and made these tags, printed out the saying and inked the edges. I added a bow made from tulle and stapled it onto the tag and then stapled the tag onto a snack size bag filled with Jolly Ranchers. It was very cheap and quick to make and the kids loved it because it was candy! :)

Beanies4Babies

2011-12-08T22:24:00.001-07:00

Remember the super cute beanie Baby Girl wore when she was first born for her first little photo shoot? Well, the cute girl who made them is now selling them and selling them for a FANTASTIC price!!! So head on over to Beanies4Babies and order yours!!!

Photo by Mallory Willyerd pHoto

(this was taken with my lame camera – so please ignore the major lack of quality)

Is it weird that I LOVE the pics of her screaming?

Fancy Pants Family Photos

2011-12-06T16:17:00.001-07:00

Pictures By Fancy Pants has done it again and took some great photos for me! She took our VERY first family photos a few weeks ago. We decided on a location that had cotton and maze fields as the back drop. {I REALLY wanted a fall background, but we live in Arizona and such a place doesn’t really exist in the valley. Despite the lack of gorgeous fall leaves I am in LOVE with the greens and browns from the fields!} It was a tie between these two for our living room wall! I LOVE them!

I had purchased Baby Girl’s dress before she was born and had planned on her wearing it for family pictures for over a year! And since she is a spitter I refused to put her in it until we got to the location and was super sad that the dress is a tad big, but oh well…She would be cute in a paper bag! ;) Anyhow, these are some of our top favorites! It was REALLY hard to choose because Baby Girl is just too darn cute! Her facial expressions [or lack of] make me happy!

She had just learned how to make a sniffing sound by scrunching her nose and inhaling really fast and did it through out the ENTIRE shoot! It makes us laugh every time she does it because this is the face she makes.

And please take a gander at her face in this one!

(Really should have gotten her hair cute before this…)

What made me the most happy when I got these back was how many great shots she got of me and my sweet girl. She truly is my sunshine and my bestest little buddy!

Kierra, I LOVE these and have waited TOO long to have a family photo. These are priceless to me and make me smile, laugh and cry every time I look at them. I LOVE that we are finally a family and you were able to capture us so I can treasure it forever!

I can’t wait to show you what we did for Christmas cards!!!

Now, GO HERE to her site to see a few more images from that day!

And check out Pictures By Fancy Pants to see more of her work and schedule a shoot!

Halloween

2011-12-05T10:03:00.001-07:00

I just realized this has been sitting in my files, never posted. Better late than never, right?

This year Baby Girl had two costumes. For one Halloween party she was Pebbles Flintstone. I used this Pinafore Dress Pattern from Smashed Peas and Carrots. It was SO easy and I highly recommend it for beginner sewers too! I made it double sided/reversible with Zebra print on the opposite side and hand stitched felt spots on it so I could easy take them off after Halloween. Then I used this bloomer pattern from MADE. Also super duper easy! However, I suggest going up a size because as you can see these barely covered her diaper. Then I hand stitched a bone for her hair and pulled her hair into a very small ponytail. {Her first ever ponytail!}

I think she was THE PERFECT Pebbles, but of course I am a little bias. ;) And to make it even more perfect she had just started crawling!

My SIL took these two with her nice camera. I REALLY need to get one of these bad boys. Her pictures turned out WAY better than mine!

This year I REALLY wanted all of us to be the Flintstones since Baby Girl was the perfect age and we could have our dog be Dino. I made the Pebbles costume with ease and then started on mine {Wilma}. I of course couldn’t just do a simple sheet over the head, I had to make a fitted, exact replica and it was an EPIC FAIL! It is extremely difficult to make a fitted dress for yourself with out a dress form and a pattern. Once it was ruined I said forget it and decided we would use past costumes this year.

So for the rest of the Halloween Parties we had Baby Girl in a [don’t gasp too loudly] store bought monkey costume. It pained me to buy it, but we decided to re-use our pirate costumes and a monkey was the perfect costume choice for her especially since we call her monkey.

And lastly, I saw THIS idea on Pinterest and HAD to do it! She was a good sport and actually LOVED it!

She was definitly THE cutest pumpkin in the patch!

Rag Doll Clothing

2011-12-02T10:05:00.001-07:00

One of my girlfriends made Baby Girl some of THE cutest clothes when she was born, but the thing I get the most compliments on is this skirt.

And since every time someone gasps and has to know where I got it I thought I would share her contact info here so you can get your hands on some of her cuteness. Her children’s clothing line is called RAG DOLL CLOTHING and she is always selling her items at different boutiques around the Phoenix Valley. Go to her blog to contact her or see where her next boutique stop is. Her prices are great and her items adorable!

(Don’t judge me, I finally bought black tights and they look SO much better)

And one last picture just because I can’t get enough of her!

Turkey Onesie

2011-11-25T19:17:00.001-07:00

This Thanksgiving I am grateful for so many things, but I am extremely thankful that this little turkey finally decided to join our little family!

Speaking of turkeys… I am still addicted to pinterest and when I came across THIS gem I just HAD to make it. It was super duper easy. Just used some scraps of felt for the front and scraps of cotton for the tail feathers ironed on with wonder under and stitched around the edges. My sister had already dyed some onesies brown for a different project and had one left over she let me have. Thanks sis!

Isn’t this highchair amazing? My grandma has had it for as long as I can remember.

And of course I had to complete the outfit with a leg warmers [socks from the dollar store] and a tutu. I saw this GENIUS idea to use the “waffle” headbands (is there an actual name for those?) as the waist band and tie the tulle through the little holes. Also found on pinterest. ;) SO much better than using elastic! (and last time I was at Hobby Lobby they had it by the yard on spools by the ribbon)

Totally random tidbit about me… I HATE eating turkey. In fact one year it was just the husband and me so I made crab. BEST Thanksgiving dinner ever!

Pictures By Fancy Pants

2011-10-12T15:12:00.001-06:00

One of my girlfriend’s offered to take some photos of Kassel at 4 months. I LOVE them all and of course I couldn’t pick just a few favorites.

Go check her photography blog out here at Pictures by Fancy Pants and while you are at it, check out her cute boutique site too at Fancy Pants Bowtique where you can find all things girly, vinyl and more!

This is my favorite shot because it captures her beautiful smile and her gorgeous eyes!

My teething girl is a major drooler

Thank you so much Fancy Pants for capturing her beauty and personality!!! We love them all!

Little Red Riding Hood

2011-09-08T14:42:00.001-06:00

When I was planning the nursery I was searching for vintage fairytale and nursery rhyme art. I never found what I had in mind, but one day I stumbled upon The Little Fox Etsy shop and fell in love. My sweet cousin saw my BLOG POST and offered to paint something for Baby Girl. She asked me what character I wanted and I chose Little Red Riding Hood. I chose her because when I was a little kid my Grandpa (on the other side) would always tell us stories and that was the one story that stuck out in my memory the most. I don’t remember the details of his version of Riding Hood, but it was most definitly his own that had us frightened and laughing all within minutes AND it is by far my favorite version. I could NOT wait to see what she came up with and I was more than ecstatic to see this!!!! It’s even more stunning in person!

It’s 11x14 so I set out to find a cheap frame. I was surprised when I found this frame at Wal-Mart for $5!!! It’s super cheap quality, but with a little primer and spray paint it looks fab!

At first I was going to try to make a matte, but then I realized it looked like it had been ripped right out of story book and left it as is.

Isn’t it BEAUTIFUL!!!?? Seriously Heather, it is amazing and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!!! Thank you so much!!! I love that it was painted by my beautiful cousin and I love that the painting reminds me of my childhood and my grandpa who is so dear to me.

Sorry my picture quality stinks! Every picture I tried to take the glass reflected everything in the background.

The Places You’ll Go

2011-09-02T13:44:00.001-06:00

I am not a very good reader.

I hate reading.

I struggle with it.

I can’t ever remember what I am reading and my mind wanders.

But I’ve never been good at sitting still.

However, I am a huge advocate for reading especially when it comes to children. I want my kids to read and love it because I hate it so much. And since I despise it so much I wanted to make it a fun thing and want it to be part of their life and easily accessible. I grew up in a house of readers, I think my parents own more books than a bookstore and I always saw them reading. So I want/need a way to encourage reading and once I saw THIS DIY bookshelf made from rain gutters I KNEW I had to do it in my home! This was seriously SUPER easy and cheap!

First we HAD to paint the hallway. Half of the hallway was painted this nasty yellow color. My brother had a 5 gallon bucket of a cream paint left over from a job so we used that. Not my paint color of choice, but free is free and it made such a HUGE difference.

[before paint]

We got the vinyl gutters from Home Depot and used a hacksaw to cut them down to size and then used sandpaper to sand the cut edges smooth.

Then we just snapped the end caps on and screwed the shelves into the wall.

It was seriously THAT easy and was completed in one evening. And it cost maybe $25!

Then I spent months slowly collecting books and ordered some vinyl. I researched quotes on reading because I wanted something that would inspire. When I came across this quote I LOVED it, but it was too long:

"The more that you read, the more things you will know.

The more you learn, the more places you'll go."

— Dr. Seuss, "I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!"

But then I came across this one:

“Oh, the places you’ll go” by Dr. Seuss

I knew it was the quote I needed. Dr. Seuss was my FAVORITE author as a child and that book is one of my favorites of his.

I ordered the quote from Soft Spoken Designs and couldn’t get it up on the wall fast enough!

{just realized i forgot to order the quote with the comma, oops!}

I LOVE the way this turned out! It allows the covers of the books to be seen making them more enticing, easily accessible for the kiddos (right now I have all the board books on the bottom shelf for little littles) and the books add color to the hallway. I still have a TON of other books on my wish list and figure once the shelves are full I can put the extras away and occasionally rotate the books. I have more grand plans for this hallway, the next being some chalkboard paint, beanbags and of course a chandelier. All in time {and money}.

Speaking of Dr. Seuss and The Places You’ll Go… I saw THIS LINK (idea) on Pinterest the other day and thought it was a wonderful idea!

In short : Get the book and have each teacher sign it through out your child's education then give it to them at graduation! I LOVE it!

P.P.S. – on the topic of reading {kinda}… Baby Girl got her pictures taken yesterday by Pictures By Fancy Pants. Seriously, go check her blog out to see more!

THIS is one of my favorites she took with Baby Girl and me. It reminds me of one of the quotes I came across when looking for the perfect quote for the bookshelves,

"Children are made readers on the laps of their parents."

— Emilie Buchwald

I can’t wait to sit and read stories to this sweet angel of mine!

Thrift Store LoVe

2011-08-24T14:10:00.001-06:00

The man and I took our babe camping for the first time this weekend. As we were driving through a town on our way to the mountains we drove past a thrift store and something caught my eye. I made the mister flip around so I could see how much this gem cost.

It was a whopping $10!!!!! My heart started racing out of excitement and then I remembered we were on our way to the mountains where it was raining AND we had driven my small car which was already packed to the ceiling. (Remember how we brought our infant camping for the first time? which means I was a paranoid mamma and packed anything and everything we just might need!)

See not much space for the baby. :)

I cried a little bit as we drove away and told the mister that if it was still there on our way back home that it was fate and we would be strapping it to the roof of my car. The rest of the camp out was pure torture as I couldn’t get that dang headboard out of my mind. It was perfect for baby girl’s big girl bed and had SO much potential.

When we pulled back into town I had my fingers and toes crossed as we got closer to the thrift store and I could NOT believe my eyes! It was STILL there! How did no-one else see the potential beauty this $10 headboard had!? We tried our best to make it fit inside the car, but it was not ever going to happen. So the roof it was. I went inside to pay and spied two lamps for $10!!! Had I died and gone to heaven?

Anyhow, I pulled out my debit card to pay and of course they didn’t take plastic and she looked at me like I was from another planet and told me they accept checks and cash. {insert small town} That’s when I looked at her like she was from Mars. Did she really just say checks? Dang it! So… I had to find a bank and withdraw cash. And yes, I had to pay a fee which the cheapo in me was not thrilled about, but the crafter in me ignored it.

So we drove the rest of the way home like this:

And I had a giant smile on my face the whole time. :D

hope & love framed

2011-08-04T12:11:00.001-06:00

According to Merriam Webster’s online dictionary the definition of HOPE is:

to cherish a desire with anticipation

to desire with expectation of obtainment

Infertility is just that plus a million other things including a lot of choice words. Hope was something I clung to as if it were a life vest and I was stranded in the middle of a ferocious ocean. With out a sliver of hope I would have drowned. Despite my skepticism of ever becoming a mother I had hope that one day my chance would come.

Then while pregnant I stumbled upon this quote from THIS cute girl’s blog (or was it this blog or this blog? I am too lazy to try to figure out where exactly or which blog of hers ;) and I KNEW I had to steal it for the nursery because it described us and our situation oh so well. {I just wish I knew the origin of the quote}

I had, had my eye on THIS gorgeous picture frame from IKEA forever and knew it was perfection to display my quote. Only it comes in black, so of course I got out my trusty primer and Krylon Catalina Mist spray paint and transformed it to work with the nursery. I left the glass in, but got rid of the backing because I wanted it to appear as if the vinyl was on the wall but wanted it so I could move the frame onto different walls in the future without having to worry about the vinyl.

Before After

Lastly I ordered the quote in vinyl from THIS adorable chica at Soft Spoken Designs. (Add her to facebook!)

It looks great on her wall despite what the crappy images below show. Her room doesn't get direct lighting and the frame is on the opposite wall of the window so it just glared when I opened the window to allow light in. :(

I am slowly getting closer to having the nursery complete and ready to reveal as a whole. Maybe by the time baby girl is five!?

A Family of Quilters

2011-07-14T12:22:00.001-06:00

Baby Girl is one lucky gal. She comes from a family of quilters and received several quilts made just for her by people who love her. Remember THIS post about my baby quilt that my mamma made me? Yeah, I still have mine and treasure it. I hope the babe does the same.

Baby Girl’s Great Grandma “R” (my maternal grandma) makes a quilt for every single one of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. I have no idea how many of each she has, but she has a lot of grandkids. She made her this adorable quilt and receiving blanket that we use ALL the time! Most of baby girls tummy time is on this quilt.

Then the babe’s grandma (my mamma) made her a plethora of flannel receiving blankets including the adorable patchwork blanket. I LOVE them!!! We use these ALL the time and are perfect for swaddling. They aren’t too thick or warm and they are the perfect size. I also use them as cover ups when nursing. I seriously could never have too many because they are always getting puked on and taking turns getting washed.

And then there is her Aunt Mae who made this gorgeous quilt based off of the fabric I used for the rug in her nursery and matches the colors perfectly! It’s so pretty I refuse to let the babe use it until she is done puking.

[THE RUG]

Mae secretly made this for me and had planned on having my mom help her during spring break and I also decided to have my mom help me make baby girls princess quilt during spring break. So Mae had to secretly come over earlier than me and work on it before I got to my mom’s each day. It’s a good thing I was still pregnant and slept in everyday and oblivious to what was going on around me. It was a great surprise and I LOVE it!

Lastly, there is Baby Girl’s 10 year old Aunt Rynnie who made her this quilt all by herself! Yes I said 10 years old! Can you believe it!!?? It’s so cute and you can’t really see it, but she added the perfect touch to it she sewed a big “K” with a princess crown on it. (For those who don’t quilt, if you don’t tie the quilts the two sides will separate so the “K” serves the purpose of preventing separation)

I seriously have such a talented family and so glad my grandma passed her talents and skills onto my mamma and then onto us girls! Baby Girl and I LOVE all of them! Thanks ladies for such special and thoughtful gifts!

One of these days I will finish Baby K’s princess quilt… it’s so hard to get motivated with a new baby. And all I have had left to do for months is bind, but I HATE hemming and it’s kinda the same thing.

And on a totally random side note, after washing all the babe’s blankets and clothes before she was born my lint collector was FULL of pink lint. I thought it was kinda funny.

Pink & White

2011-07-11T11:03:00.001-06:00

After the Baby’s Blessing we had our family over for a light lunch. I decided to do a “Salad Bar” so I asked a few people to make different salads and desserts and oh my it was delish! We had pasta salad, potato salad, strawberry spinach salad, Jell-O salad, fruit salad…etc and the best part was I didn’t have to do much since I delegated most of it to others making my day less stressful especially since me and cooking are enemies.

And with the majority of the food in others hands I was able to put a little effort in a few decorations. I wanted to keep it simple and cheap so I decided to do the tissue pom-poms that I did for my mom’s graduation party because they are so easy and cost almost nothing!

Then I enlisted the help of my little sisters to make a couple rosette balls. I saw THIS tutorial on pinterest (of course) and thought it looked SO simple. And simple they were, however they were VERY time consuming and it took all 3 of us several hours to complete just 2 balls.I didn’t have any Styrofoam balls, but I did have these decorative balls in storage and they worked just as well. And I LOVE how they turned out!

I forgot to take pictures of the spread, but just visualize pink and white tablecloths with pink plates and silverware (all from the dollar store). Since I don’t have any serving dishes of any kind I needed something to put utensils in so I bought some clear glass vases from the dollar store and spray painted them white. Super simple! And the taller vases had pink flowers in them, but again I forgot to take pictures.

Have I ever mentioned that I hate hosting!? It’s so stressful and a lot of work and my house isn’t very conducive to having a large group of people in it! But the day was perfect despite me running around with my head cut off. And I must thank all those who made it special!

Blessing Gown

2011-07-07T13:39:00.001-06:00

I had designed baby girl’s blessing dress in my head like 15 different ways. But when I started thinking of the construction of the dress I realized she doesn’t have any curves and designing a dress for a baby was much much different than for myself. None of my ideas would have come out the way I wanted – Baby doesn’t have a neckline, 3/4 sleeves would look ridiculous with her short little arms not to mention it would be a pain to sew, sleeves in general weren’t coming out right in my head…etc. And I really wanted a vintage lace looking dress and I couldn’t find lace with a pattern small enough for a baby dress. The only things I wanted stick with was I didn’t want white; I wanted ivory, I wanted ruffles and I wanted her to use my blessing blanket which is a pale (probably faded) pink.

Then one night I was on Pinterest and came across these two dresses:

[source] [source]

They were to die for!!! They reminded me of my wedding dress (which I am still obsessed with) and I was in LOVE!

{my favorite pic}

I originally thought of using the one on the right as a baptism dress for baby girl, but when all my original designs for a blessing dress failed I came back to these and designed a dress that would work for baby. My mom is amazing and when I was in high school I would design my prom dresses and she would figure out how to make them just as I had drawn or described. And this blessing dress was no exception! With my descriptions she made this beautiful ~~dress~~ gown. I say gown because someone at the blessing said “that’s not a dress, that is a ball gown” and they were right! My mom did a fabulous job and I can’t thank her enough for the gorgeous gown!

Isn’t it gorgeous!!!???

The fabric is ivory Casa Satin. It’s my favorite satin because it’s machine washable and I love the texture. My contributions were very small… I sewed the ruffles and sash on. My mamma did the rest aka the hard stuff. The ruffles were actually cake because we were able to find matching pre-made ruffles by the yard at Joanns. That saved lots of time! They were a little pricey, but it was well worth it and we, of course, used coupons! The ribbon sash is from Ribbons and Lace in Mesa. My mom made the buttons, but instead of making button holes she used sew on snaps. Making this dress was about $35 with coupons and my bestie had given me a $20 gift card at my shower (she knows me too well) making the cost of the dress $15! WAY cheaper than buying one and if you ask me it was MUCH, MUCH prettier than anything I could have purchased and super extra special because her grandma made it for her!

Then I made her headband. It was super easy and I have had several requests/comments on it so I think I will be doing a tutorial because it really is so simple to make! Her shoes and bracelets were gifts and perfect!!

My baby has more bling than I do!

Then there is my blessing blanket from almost 28 years ago… so glad my mom kept it.

bragging time… isn’t my baby adorable!?

Saving My Pennies for Amy Butler

2011-06-23T12:16:00.001-06:00

Remember how I’m obsessed with pinterest? Well awhile back I stumbled upon THIS rug while surfing pinterest and haven't been able to get it off my mind. I LOVE it!!!!

It has ALL my favorite colors!! The Avocado Greens, The Turquoise-ish blues, Browns… oh it’s perfect!

I am saving my pennies for this bad boy! And I am designing my living room based off the rug.

And of course the designer is Amy Butler! I was not surprised when I saw that. She is by far one of my favorite fabric designers. I just typically can’t afford to use her fabrics. But they sure are yummy. And how did I not know that her designs have now ventured into home decor!?

Amy, PLEASE have this rug available by the time I become rich and famous and can buy it!!! It’s not super pricey for a rug, but I could put new flooring down for that cost and trust me, we need wood floors!

I know, I know, my living room walls are currently grey… but you see when we moved into our house I was pregnant. And for some reason being pregnant sucked every creative bone in my body dry. It was really devastating! But it also left me clueless as to what I wanted to do with my living room. I originally had this great plan of grey walls and black/white furniture… and then we had the grey paint fiasco where I could NOT find the right shade of grey for the life of me. So we settled on a grey and it looks very periwinkle. I hate it! So when we get a chance [aka money] the walls are going to be painted tan. Tan is a nice neutral color that you can’t ever go wrong with and it will go lovely with this rug!

Back to reality… {{{sigh}}}

Rit Dye Issues

2011-06-22T20:16:00.001-06:00

So remember these onesies and burp rags that I tried dying black and ended up grey?

Well, I had been told that black never works so well and to try soaking them longer. So I decided to try different colors on some onesies for Baby Girl. My sister and I used 3 different colors - Teal, Pastel Pink, and Purple. We followed the directions for the washing machine method except we soaked them for 30 minutes prior to putting everything in the washer. We did the pink first and they didn't come out pastel pink AND they looked sorta tie-dyed with some super dark dots.

So with the Purple we decided to stir and move the items in the dye a little more, but we still had the same issues and the purple was even worse. So with the Teal we opted to exclude the burp cloths in hopes that they were hogging the color and that these onesies would turn out perfect... nope, just as bad. :( How come, the ~~black~~ grey onesies didn’t have the faded look to them?

They are still cute and of course I will use them, but I really needed solid colored onesies to match certain outfits. If I wanted tie-dye I would have tie-dyed…

Have any of you used Rit Dye and been successful?

What are the tricks???

I am really bummed!

P.S. – The onesies were brand new! The burp rags had been used before, but they were clean.

Jets, Skulls and Guitars

2011-06-20T10:56:00.001-06:00

During the whole infertility thing I had several friends who were in the same boat that I leaned on for support and talked openly and honestly too. But there was one gal in particular who knew our journey a little too well because it seemed like we would have the same dang things happen at the same time. It became quite comical after so many like incidents occurred and although they were crappy things, it was nice to have someone who could relate so easily. This girlie also happens to be a cousin of mine – 3rd cousin once removed or some crazy thing like that, I am not even sure, does it even matter? We share blood (and a lot of traits) that's all I know. So when she found out she was pregnant I couldn’t be more excited! I am pretty sure I jumped up and down!

And then she found out it was a boy! Everyone seemed to be having girls so I was thrilled to make some boy stuff again. And to make it more exciting we have the same taste in baby boy paraphernalia. Baby J’s daddy is in the Air Force so naturally she wanted jets, but also likes skulls and guitars. I started with my fabric stash and unsurprisingly to me I had almost ALL the fabric I would need already.

I probably bought 3 yards of this red skull and crossbones fabric ages ago because I knew I would want a blanket made out of it. My mom made the crocheted receiving blankets and I made matching burp cloths with the remnants.

Then I found this guitar flannel in my stash. I didn’t have enough to make a blanket, but one of my girlfriends made Baby Girl some burp cloths like these and I LOVE them so I thought I would try it out. SUPER simple and they are always so soft. You just give a large seam allowance and then snip all the way around and as they get washed more and more they fray and look super cute!

Then I took some more fabric remnants in prints she would like and made onesies. My cousin had already bought Baby J a years worth of clothes so I went for 12-24 month onesies. The Ties are my favorite and are SUPER simple. Just some wonder under and then stitch around the edges.

And since I have learned that you can’t ever have too many burp cloths I made some more… I wanted to dye them black so I used some Black RIT dye I had and used the washing machine method. (Our washer is OLD and figured if it stained it no biggie). I was a little intimidated with dying, but it was a breeze. However, my items didn’t come out black, they came out grey! I was really mad and decided to just go with it. I had to change my plans, but it ended up working out. I just drew an airplane, guitar and skull and used white knit for the appliqués.

Little side note, Baby J’s daddy can also draw SUPER amazingly and I was a little nervous that he would notice if I drew the guitar wrong.

Another thing I have learned is that I LOVE my car seat cover. I was a little apprehensive about using one in the summer since it’s SO blasted hot here, but it is a life saver. I seriously think it has saved my baby’s life! Or at least protected her from getting diseases from all the crazy people who think they can just come up and touch your baby! I don't know what posses people to think I want their [heaven’s knows where their hands have been] hands on my baby. With out fail every time I have the cover open someone feels the urge to run over and touch her. It’s also great for protecting her from the harsh sun. I just have to make sure I flip both sides open when in the car so Baby Girl gets some AC blowing on her. And sure it’s a little annoying to mess with every time we get in the car, but it’s worth the hassle.

Enough of dirty hands I am about to gag! Back to Baby J… When I saw this fabric at Joann's I KNEW I had to make him a cover. It’s Skulls AND Camo! Score! And seriously these things are SO simple! Two yards of fabric sewn together (I rounded the corners) with straps in the middle held on with velcro.

Can you tell that my baby has taken over my craft room!? I have to haul in every device that can

possibly keep her happy and entertained so I can get stuff done.

Then lastly, I made Miss C a hooter hider. I went more girly with it because I figure it’s technically for her, not the babe, but stuck with boyish colors.

Since I am a procrastinator I did all this in 2 days and stayed up until 1am the night before the shower to finish it. There is NO way I could have done this with out the help of my husband because little miss is a tad spoiled and only truly happy when held or at least touching you. So the Mister whipped out the Bjorn and played video games with his friend with little miss fussy pants strapped to his chest. Let me just tell you, that thing is heaven sent! I can’t believe I didn’t get it out sooner! I will be able to get SO much done now!

I am finally starting to get my energy back and I am craving to do SO many crafts right now! We are having some family come from out of town and I really want to finish up all my half finished projects before they get here.

Daddy Will Always Be My King

2011-06-20T00:42:00.000-06:00

Happy Father's Day to all of those who are fathers or have had to assume the role of one. I love and appreciate all the wonderful men in my life who are and who have been like fathers to me. This particular Father's Day is super special because it was my sweet and loving husband's first official Father's Day. I wanted to do something special so I ~~made~~ asked him take pictures with our sweet babe and added one of my favorite quotes using Picasa. I framed it and put it in the nursery so Baby Girl can always be reminded how much her daddy loves her. {Plus it goes along with the fairytale theme I kinda have going on}

{I LOVE this picture for many obvious reasons, but mainly because it shows off her crazy hair.}

bow and headband made by muah

bloomers from HERE

Mallory Willyerd pHoto Shoot

2011-06-11T07:34:00.001-06:00

Awhile back Good Job Momma Blog was having a photo session giveaway with Mallory Willyerd pHoto. I thought it would be perfect if I won because I could get Baby Girl’s newborn photos done, but figured it was a long shot. So when I got the email telling me that I had won I literally screamed for joy! Having a good picture of our little miracle baby was so important to me, but money is tight so it was a huge relief and blessing to win. And apparently it was my lucky day because my water broke later that night. :)

Mallory was a doll and so super sweet and sooo easy to work with! Since Baby Girl was almost 2 weeks early I was unprepared for pictures the first week of her life so we scheduled her shoot for when she was 3 weeks old. Overall Baby did an ok job being moved and changed and bugged, but with her being a bit older she didn’t stay asleep and got pretty mad towards the end because she was hungry even though I spent my entire week trying to figure out her schedule and tried so hard to get her to not be hungry during the shoot, but of course she had to be complicated. And with all that to work with Mallory was so patient and kind and got some amazing shots even though the babe was Mrs. Grumpy Pants. I LOVE all of pics and can’t stop looking at them!!! If it didn’t take a year to upload them all I would put them ALL on here, but here are my top faves.

{I made her bow and headband}

{her cute bracelet was made by my sweet aunt}

{Ruffle Bloomers from Sweet Shop Bowtique}

Just a little bugged that my wedding ring still didn’t fit when we shot these.

My hands look so naked with out it.

My Baby Bear!

{Beanie made by THIS cute girl}

Now go to Mallory Willyerd pHoto and check out Mallory’s other work. And if you are in the Mesa area book a session!!

Doll Bed for My Baby

2011-05-31T17:35:00.001-06:00

I was browsing through the blogs I follow one night before Baby Girl was born and saw THIS post on i heart naptime. I KNEW I had to do it for her photo shoot as well. I bought the bed at IKEA for $20 and of course it’s blond wood and not my favorite.

So I primered it with white primer {it’s unfinished wood and took an entire can of primer} and then used Heirloom White Rustoleum spray paint so it will match Baby Girl’s furniture in her room (not that it really matters, but I am a little OCD like that). I still need to add a clear coat of finish, but I painted it a couple days before her photo shoot and never got around to the clear coat.

The bed came with some bedding, but it wasn’t my taste so I went through my tubs of fabric and decided on cream minky backed with pink flannel. Have I mentioned how much I hate sewing with minky? It stretches and is super frustrating to get perfect and since I am a perfectionist it drives me bonkers!

Then last minute – as in 30 minutes before the photographer came, I decided it needed some kind of “mattress” or padding for Baby Girl to lay on so I cut a piece of foam to fit (did a crappy job, but it did the trick). I then just covered it with the remaining pink flannel to temporarily make it look pretty. I will probably go back and put elastic on the flannel to make it a fitted sheet, but Baby Girl won’t be playing with the bed for awhile.

And this is what we ended up with. I LOVE it! And Baby Girl looked SOOO cute on it! I am DYING to see the pics!!!

And I CAN’T wait to play dolls with her!

Curtains

2011-05-27T00:20:00.000-06:00

I am 99.9% done with the nursery!!! I can’t wait until all the finishing touches are in place. Last weekend we finally got her window treatments done. I made the curtains moths ago, but ran into a few snags. One being I need the Mister’s help to put the curtain rod up, but he has been swamped with work. And the second issue was this:

I HATED the way it looked. I asked a few people what they thought and what it was missing or needed. This put me on hold for several weeks I was so bugged. My awesome aunt came up with the idea of sheers. So I went to Target and bought some fairly inexpensive cream sheer curtains and we now have this:

They really need to be steamed, but I do not own a steamer, I’m exhausted {insert newborn} AND the recliner is placed in front of the window so you really can’t see the imperfections anyhow.

It looks a million times better. Only problem is her room gets LOTS of light so the pics look crummy and I will eventually need to make a black out shade.

I wanted a ruffley-like bottom on the curtains to sort of go with the ruffles on the crib skirt, but didn’t want matchy-matchy and I was running low on fabric. So this is what I came up with.

[Crib Skirt Details]

I took step by step pictures while making the curtains and of course they were erased off my camera once they were uploaded onto the computer, but remember, my computer is sick? :( I keep discovering more and more things that could potentially be lost if my computer doesn’t get better like my blurb blog book I have been working on for ages for 2009! I will cry massive amounts of tears if that is lost. {another negative about blurb is you work on the book on your computer and when it’s done you then upload it to their site.}

I am still not in love with the curtains, but oh well…

Sleepless Nights

2011-05-20T14:40:00.001-06:00

I am seriously LOVING pinterest! It gives me something to do while feeding in the middle of the night. I LOVE all the inspiration and beautiful things that are all in one place. The other night I stumbled on this:

Isn’t it so true?

I am DYING to get some much needed sleep and have energy to do some crafts/sewing. Baby Girl is getting her pictures taken next Friday and I have a few props and headbands to work on. And the Mister has promised to help me finish the nursery. I think Baby Girl has been in there only a handful of times so far, but it’s still stressing me out that it’s not done.

Happy Friday! I hope it’s filled with sleepless nights making amazing memories!

Freezer Meals

2011-05-18T17:46:00.001-06:00

It’s no secret that I despise cooking! I have very little patience, I can’t stay focused and I HATE cleaning up afterwards. So I knew I would need to prepare meals in advance for the arrival of the baby because I also don’t function well on little sleep and cooking would be the last thing on my agenda. I googled and asked around and found a couple good sites for freezer meals. I found several, but stuck with the simple meals since I was running out of time and I really am bad at cooking.

I got the first two recipes from the Krazy Cake Lady {HERE}

Creamy Peanut Butter Chicken
6 chicken breasts
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/3 Cup creamy peanut butter
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
3 Tablespoons orange juice

Add chicken breasts to Ziploc baggie. In bowl mix all other ingredients together. Pour into Ziploc baggie and seal tight. Freeze. When ready to cook, unthaw bag in refrigerator overnight and pour into crock-pot in the morning. Cook on low 6-8 hours.

Barbecue Chicken
1 whole chicken, cut up and skinless
1 Cup catsup
1 Tablespoon brown sugar, firmly packed
3 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

In a small bowl blend together sugar, catsup and brown sugar. Pour into Ziploc baggie and place chicken pieces into baggie. Seal and freeze. Unthaw chicken overnight and place in crock-pot in the morning. Cook on low 6-8 hours. Serve over rice.

She has an entire cookbook on freezer meals that I would LOVE to have, but I just used this recipe found {HERE}:

Cafe Rio Frozen Burritos

Yield: 10-15 Burritos

1 3.5 lb pork roast (boneless)

2 cans Dr. Pepper (or a 2 liter Dr. Pepper or Coca Cola)

10 flour Tortillas

2 cups cooked rice

4 cups shredded Colby jack cheese

salt and pepper

In a large crock pot, place the pork roast on the bottom (don’t forget to use a crock pot liner) and pour the soda on top. Turn your crock pot to low, cover with a lid for 12 hours on low. I usually do this before I go to bed so it can cook all night. After 12 hours, let the pork roast cool (place in the refrigerator) and then remove the meat from the liquid. Don’t discard the liquid. Shred the pork with 2 forks and separate any fat that is still on the roast from the meat. Discard the fat. Once the meat is shredded p0ur 2/3 cup liquid back into the meat in a medium bowl so it does not dry out.

Now I stopped there… I didn’t make the burritos. I just froze the meat as is so we can use it as we please. But to get the rest of the recipe and directions go HERE.

I didn’t include it here, but she also lists the recipe for the cilantro dressing. My pork did not end up tasting like Cafe Rio, but it was still really good. Also, it helps if you plug the crock pot in and not the blender instead. Just saying…

Here are a few other sites I found recipes on, but didn’t use:

http://www.delish.com/recipes/cooking-recipes/freezer-meals?gt1=47062

http://www.thenateshow.com/tipsandtools/detail/month-of-meals-plan

Now these are my recipes… I am not a cook so I am sure there are better words and descriptions for all this, so be kind. I am also running on very little sleep so please don’t judge me. :)

Taco Meat

4 lbs of Hamburger Meat

Salt and Pepper to taste

Chopped Onions

Taco Seasoning

Brown the hamburger with the onions, salt and pepper. Once it is almost completely cooked add the Taco Seasoning. Depending on how greasy your meat is you may want to add a little water just to get it to all mix well. I then drained as much of the grease as I could before bagging.

I froze enough meat in a quart size bag for 4 tacos which is what we usually eat between the two of us. Now all I have to do is buy or make taco shells, chop up some tomatoes and add any other toppings you like such as sour cream, cheese, beans… etc.

*To make your own taco shells or tostadas get some corn tortillas and fry in veggie oil. For tacos I just barely fry them. But for tostados I fry until crisp.

Spaghetti Sauce

2 cans of tomato sauce

2 cans of tomato paste

2 cans of diced tomatoes

1 lb of hamburger meat

Chopped Onions

Chopped Garlic

Italian seasoning to taste

Salt & Pepper to taste

I cook my hamburger with salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, onions, and garlic. Then I combine the cans of tomato items and stir until warm. You may find you will need to add more seasonings until it tastes just right. I prefer to add olives and mushrooms, but my husband picks them out so sometimes I will add them and sometimes I won’t. This should make about 3 to 4 bags at 2 servings each. And all we have to do is make noodles. I also use this recipe for making Chicken Parmesan and pizza.

Yoshida’s Chicken

Boneless/skinless chicken strips

Onion

Chunks of Pineapple

Green Bell Pepper

Yoshida’s Sauce (bought at Costco)

I cut my chicken into small cubed pieces along with the onions and bell peppers. Add the pineapple and pour Yoshidas Sauce on top. I froze this uncooked, again in quantities that we eat each meal. Then when we decide to eat it I will pull it out of the freezer in the morning, thaw and then fry it. I like to add frozen broccoli and peas to mine, but again the husband doesn’t like veggies so I didn’t add it to the frozen meal. Then all we have to do is throw some rice in the rice cooker and serve the stir fry on rice.

Alfredo Chicken

Boneless Skinless Chicken cut into cubes

Chopped Garlic

Chopped Onion

Salt & Pepper to taste

Alfredo Sauce

Pasta of choice

In a buttered frying pan cook all the ingredients until done and then freeze the serving amount for pasta. We like to buy the Classico Alfredo Sauce and mix in the chicken over pasta. So with the chicken already cooked we just need to open a jar of sauce and make some pasta.

BBQ Beef

1 Beef Roast

Salt & Pepper to taste

Chopped Garlic

Onion Slices

BBQ Sauce

I just add all the ingredients (minus the BBQ Sauce) to the crock-pot. Add water until it covers the roast and cook for several hours on medium until the meat is tender and begins to shred off. I then drained everything off the roast, shredded it and mixed with BBQ Sauce. I froze our portions of what we would eat when making sloppy joes. Now all we have to do it thaw, heat up and add to a hamburger bun.

There was one other recipe I used to make sweet and sour chicken, but it was a recipe on a paper my mom gave me and I can’t find it. :(

Overall I froze 27 quart sized bags in one day!

Sorry I took this with my phone because I am way too tired to get the camera out. Some of our sweet friends also loaded us up on frozen dinners. It took me an entire day with the help of my mom and sister, but it was so worth it! I think I might start collecting more recipes and make this a monthly ritual. Because cooking for one full day is WAY better than doing it every single day!

I’m so Crafty…

2011-05-13T18:28:00.001-06:00

I make people!

And stinkin cute ones at that!

[source]

When I first saw this several years ago I fell in love and dreamt of the day I could say that!

is it terrible of me to love this pic cuz she is flipping the camera off? I like to think she is saying “ef you to infertility! here I am against all the odds!”

Baby Girl is almost a week old and I just can’t believe it! Time is flying! The other night the mister asked on a scale of 1 to 10 if being a mom was what I thought and dreamed it would be. I told him an eleven and it’s so much better than I could have ever dreamt. Sure I am exhausted, sore and delirious, but I am in love and in 7th heaven! I never want to put her down and I know I will pay for that later, but I waited way too long for this to not soak up every moment. (I am typing this entire post with one hand because I have her in my arms)

the Mister is friggan awesome and got me the iPhone today…I have had my current phone for like 4 years and it sucks. My favorite thing about the iPhone thus far is the camera and INSTAGRAM. Seriously you HAVE to check it out. I took the pics below with it and I will be taking a million more! I love that I can instantly upload them to facebook and annoy all my friends with a zillion pics of the babe.

Yeah, my baby has a mullet… she’s cool like that!

The other thing I have currently been obsessed with is PINTEREST. If you haven’t checked it out yet and you like to store ideas or get great inspiration it’s a MUST. I LOVE my Google reader, but this tops it. I just wish I could catalog my reader items automatically into pinterest. Anyhow, they just came out with an ap for the iPhone! So guess who will be addicted to their phone during those midnight feedings? I don’t have a ton listed on MINE yet, but my goal is to transfer all my reader saves into it.

[source]

Have a lovely weekend! I know I will because although my laptop is still broken I was able to download Windows Live Writer onto this hunk of junk!!! YAY! Another thing I suggest you do if you blog! Seriously, it’s way better than using the blogger program to post!

Our Miracle Baby is Here

2011-05-11T14:17:00.001-06:00

At 3:43 in the morning on May 7th our baby girl made her debut appearance into this world weighing a whopping 7lbs 10oz and 20.5 inches long. She was 11 days early and I got my Mother's Day Wish of getting her as my gift for Mother's Day.

Her name is Kassel LeDawn Pace and we think she is THE cutest thing alive!

Her name is pronounced like castle. I originally heard it as a name of one of the girls a friend of mine was dating in high school. (I have no idea how she spelt it though) And since I have always been obsessed with castles I filed the name away in my brain. We had other names picked out for a girl for awhile, but this one kept popping up. First there is a QB for the Kansas City Chiefs named Matt Cassel. And then there is a show called Castle that we really enjoy watching. There is also a town in Germany called Kassel and since we are both German I thought it was fitting.

I may go into more detail about her delivery another day, but the short version is my water broke at 9:30 pm Friday and at 3:43 am Saturday morning I had my baby girl in my arms. Best experience of my life! She has most definitely changed our lives for the better and is our little miracle baby that we can't get enough of. The wait was sure worth it.

Sharing Enemies

2011-05-06T16:21:00.000-06:00

My laptop has a virus! I want to cry! It has SO many things on it. I just pray I can get it fixed with out losing everything. I am usually really good about backing things up onto my external hard drive, but I haven't backed up the last year. Thankfully I always keep my family blog and facebook updated with recent pics so not all is lost. So until I can get it fixed my posts will be short and sweet if at all. I prefer to use Windows Live Writer to post and my older than the hills desktop won't allow me to download the program. Nor does it have a card reader, sound and isn't connected to the printer/scanner. How did we live like this? Did I also mention it's slower than tar? Yeah this computer is basically useless.

Anyhow, I was scrolling through my reader the other day and came across this quote from HERE. I had to chuckle. I am actually typing in between contractions right now so hopefully REALLY soon (FOR MY SAKE) this babe will be here to grace us with her presence. I am still rooting for a Mother's Day birth.

Have a lovely weekend and superb Mother's Day! And that goes for all you ladies who may or may not technically be mothers. At some point in time in your life you have helped, loved, cared for someone using those mothering instincts. I think that qualifies you to celebrate and be celebrated!

Mother of Pearl

2011-05-03T11:22:00.000-06:00

This year will be the first Mother’s Day that I will not be locked in my house avoiding anyone and everyone, the internet, cell phone or TV. I will happily join in on the celebration and I can’t even begin to describe how that feels. It will be a bright day, not a dark gloomy day filled with tears. Ok, there might still be tears because let’s face it

1.) I am pregnant and I cry ALL the time

2.) Infertility is a beast and even though I am pregnant it still hurts and all the past years and pain is still with me

3.) I will most likely be crying happy tears

However, I am still apprehensive about celebrating Mother’s Day before this baby comes. I am still worried sick she won’t come. But I am trying really hard to keep the positive vibes flowing. You see two years ago this week was when I had my miscarriage. I didn’t tell a soul except a handful of people. That was suppose to be my first happy Mother’s Day. But instead I was mourning the loss of a baby and basically doing it alone (with Ryan of course). I look back and wish I hadn’t done it alone, but I was mortified and couldn’t even talk about it. So needless to say my husband and I do not celebrate this holiday. We buy our Mother’s gifts and tell them how much we appreciate them, but it is not to be spoken of in my house. However, this year is different. The baby could come any day and I am secretly wishing for Sunday. It would be the best Mother’s Day EVER! However, if she is stubborn like her mamma she will come late.

And since this is my first happy Mother’s Day I have already picked out what I want. Usually I am fine with a box of chocolates for silly little holidays {or any day for that matter}, but there is something I have wanted for a LONG time. I showed it to the Mister months ago and told him exactly how I want it made too. Is that terrible? I just find it easier to give him links and tell him exactly what I want rather than secretly hope he gets it for me when he has NO idea I am wanting something in particular. So with out further ado, I had better be getting one of these not too long after the baby is born:

I told him not to order it until after she is born so that we know for sure what we are naming her and how we are spelling it. But I LOVE the idea of having a piece of jewelry for each of my kids. And I LOVE the Mother of Pearl. [The Vintage Pearl has tons of uber cute stuff!]

On a serious note - as I sit and think about all this I want others to be aware and be sensitive this week. Be understanding if your friends/family who have struggled with infertility, miscarriage, loss of a child and so on… go under the radar this week and don’t show up to events. Know that they are hibernating until this holiday passes. It’s not easy and my heart goes out to anyone who may be hurting instead of celebrating.

And to our mammas – we LOVE you tons!!! thanks for all you do!!!

Car Seat Cover

2011-05-02T11:54:00.001-06:00

We have been so blessed to have been given so many hand-me-downs for this baby. We have not had to purchase anything major and I could never thank all those who have been so generous. One of those generous gifts was the infant car seat [base and stroller included]. It’s all in excellent shape, but kind of boring for my taste (it was originally purchased for a boy). I had seen people recover their car seats and just knew it was the cheapest way to get what I wanted. So I picked out somewhat neutral fabric that would go ok with the current fabric on the stroller. My sweet and talented mamma made the cover for me and I LOVE it!!!!

I ordered the pattern from THIS esty shop. I specifically chose this pattern because it said it was for a GRACO car seat. However, while making it my mom found that her pattern was not right on and she had to do some fudging of her own to make it all work and fit perfectly. So I wouldn’t recommend this for a beginner sewer and the seller even states it is for an intermediate sewer. (Precisely why I had my mom do it ;) Now I saw this car seat cover pattern on this blog and loved the way it looked, but after doing some research I found that if you alter the original cover and/or remove it you void your warranty. So I liked that this cover just slips on top of the original seat and I don’t have to worry about the warranty.

The black and grey is the original cover. Not ugly or in bad shape – just not “cute” enough for me.

Then I added the little headrest piece today. Is there seriously going to be a little person in this in MY car!!!???

She even went so far as to make cute little matching pads for the straps!

Then with the left over fabric she made a car seat canopy like the one I made HERE.

Seriously, my mom rocks!!!! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this car seat cover and can’t wait to put a little person in it!!!

THANKS marmie!

I Could Rule The World

2011-04-30T10:36:00.001-06:00

I LOVE this!!!

[source]

I refused to drink soda once I found out I was pregnant because there are conflicting reports with it affecting infertility and causing complications and I was willing to ditch anything that might ruin my dream of being a mother. But once I started getting the lovely pregnancy headaches and my doc told me to drink a soda I decided a Dr. Pepper here and there wouldn’t hurt. But to be honest I CAN’T wait until I can drink it again ALL the time! Oh and let’s not forget sushi! Oh sushi, I hope to be tasting your deliciousness again the second this baby comes.

Shutterfly Love – Wedding Re-Take Book

2011-04-28T16:10:00.001-06:00

I LOVE when I get an orange package in the mail! It means it’s from Shutterfly and all my hard work and our priceless memories are in book form!

[source] I swear I took a pic of my orange box when it came in, but I can’t find it so I found this one online.

About a month ago I was asked by Shutterfly to test out a new CUSTOM program and they would give me a nice 50% off and free shipping if I did it before a certain date. I, of course, couldn’t turn it down! I had a few bumps that had to be worked out with their tech team (and they literally fixed them over night!!!), but once I got into it, it was W.O.N.D.E.R.F.U.L!!! It was super easy to use and has some really exciting features like being able to grab photos straight off your facebook or any other online account and layering text and photos!

I have only ever used Blurb.com and Shutterfly.com so I can only compare those two. And I have mentioned before that I much prefer the quality of Shutterfly over Blurb. Their covers are glossy and I feel the binding is much better. The only thing I hated about Shutterfly is that it didn’t have any custom options. Being a scrapbooker/crafter I NEED options and free reign. So I have used Shutterfly in the past for “photo” books like our trip to Brazil for my MIL because I wanted the better quality in the end, but cursed the entire time for not being able to do what I wanted and where. However, I needed the freedom to book our blog therefore using Blurb for the blog. I am not sure that this new custom program will be as conducive to booking your blog and since I had a short time frame I wasn’t about to mess around with it. But I did inform Shutterfly of this.

Once I was finished using their program I sent them an email of my wishes, likes, dislikes…etc. I really hope they take all those into consideration and I can someday use Shutterfly for all my booking needs!!! I chose to do our wedding photo re-takes for this book since it required the least amount of journaling and thought. (Again I only had like a week or two to complete a book)

And I LOVE it!!!!

**The back story on these pictures is that when we got married we did not hire a professional photographer. BIGGEST mistake of my life. {And I hope the lovely person who did take our original photos never reads this and if they do I hope they do not get offended.} So my NUMBER ONE recommendation when getting married is to hire a professional no matter the cost! You only get married once (ok, maybe multiple times for some people, but stick with me here) and you most definitly want that special day documented in gorgeous photography because it all goes by SO quickly!

Anyhow, a friend of ours was building his portfolio and offered to re-take our wedding pictures. I was ecstatic. Ryan was excited to have new pictures, but not too thrilled to put a suit on and endure the session, but was a champ anyhow! Why is it that guys HATE having their pictures taken? So I enlisted two of my girlfriends to make me gorgeous, and I still can’t thank them enough for doing my hair and makeup that day! I felt beautiful and just like a princess. And I was more than excited to put my wedding dress back on. I LOVE my dress and have zero regrets with it and secretly hope my daughters will want to wear it.

And since we were taking photos “B” and I decided to also do a destroy it shoot where you get dirty, muddy, wet – what have you – in your wedding dress and take pics. I wasn’t about to get my wedding dress mucky so I bought a used dress on KSL.com (wish we had that here in AZ!) and went to the river the next day. The goal was to get in the water, but holy moly it was freezing. However, I think “B” got some great shots even if our original idea failed.

Ok, back to the book… I used all the photos “B” sent me in this book and decided on a 12x12 so that the images were large and showcased properly. I only added a few descriptions, quotes and song lyrics to keep it clean and simple. Over all this book would have cost me a whopping $100 because of the number of pages and the size, but since I got a discount and I had a $25 gift card I got this baby for $25! I couldn’t be happier with the quality and the outcome!

I believe Shutterfly plans on rolling out with this new program in May or June so be on the look out. I HIGHLY recommend it and I am sure they will have added and changed a few things to make it even better!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you “B” for making this all possible!!!

Go HERE to see the entire book.

Click here to view this photo book larger

Here are some of the quotes and lyrics used in the book:

Grow Old With You

I wanna make you smile whenever you’re sad
Carry you around when your arthritis is bad
All I wanna do is grow old with you
I’ll get your medicine when your tummy aches
Build you a fire if the furnace breaks
Oh it could be so nice, growing old with you
I’ll miss you
I’ll kiss you
Give you my coat when you are cold
I’ll need you
I’ll feed you
Even let ya hold the remote control
So let me do the dishes in our kitchen sink
Put you to bed if you’ve had too much to drink
I could be the man who grows old with you
I wanna grow old with you

Performed by Adam Sandler
On the Wedding Singer soundtrack

"Take love, multiply it by infinity and take it to the depths of forever...

and you still have only a glimpse of how I feel for you."

- Meet Joe Black

Tell me can you feel my heart beat
Tell me as I kneel down at your feet
I knew there would come a time
When these two hearts would
entwined just put your hand in mine
Forever

“I Do” – Westlife

When you realize you want to spend
The rest of your life with somebody,
You want the rest of your life
To start as soon as possible.
--When Harry Met Sally

“I can express no kinder sign of love, than this kind kiss” -Shakespeare

Water Birth

2011-04-27T11:43:00.001-06:00

A girlfriend sent this to me today and I laughed out loud because THIS is as close as I will ever get to having my babies at home or in water for that matter.

It seems to be the “cool” thing to do these days, but I am far from cool and I am a huge pansy. I will be the first to admit it. Getting an epidural is the ONLY thing keeping me sane when I think about giving birth. And if this is what you choose to do that’s great, I have nothing against it and think you are amazing for going through that kind of pain. But I know my weaknesses and fears and I want my doctor and my drugs. AND we have waited WAY too long for this little babe that I will not risk having something go wrong and not having the best medical treatments on hand. (Infertility makes you a crazy person worrying about every possible thing that could go wrong! I am hoping that once this baby is here safe and sound I will lose some of my crazy!)

I was completely at peace with delivery until this past week! I have 3 weeks left and I am getting nervous!

P.S. – Did 5 loads of laundry {with Dreft} for this tiny little watermelon sized human growing in my tummy! Geez… she is already high maintenance! But is she seriously going to be so tiny!? Those newborn clothes are smaller than most my doll clothes growing up! aw, I can’t wait!

Braid Wishes

2011-04-26T10:24:00.001-06:00

Can I tell you a secret?

I do not know how to braid!

I can do the simple 3 piece braid, but it looks terrible! I learned how on my cabbage patch doll back in the day, but I am no better than I was at 9! For years I have tried to figure it out, but it’s kinda tricky to learn on your own head. And I REALLY wished I knew how to french braid a couple years ago when they were {and still are} in style – Especially since I have bangs. You know the kind Lauren Conrad always sports?

[Source]

When I was in Junior High I always had my mom do the headband braid like this:

[Source]

Except mine was ALL my own hair. And I most definitly have plenty of hair to do it.

But my biggest wish is that I could do a fishtail braid! There was a girl in my elementary class who always had her long hair in a fish braid and I was always SO jealous! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the way it looks! However, my hair isn’t quite long enough to make it look this pretty.

[source]

In the summer I tend to let my hair go curly more often because in Arizona you have to live in the pool and we all know I HATE my hair curly because I don’t know how to tame it. BUT, being able to braid it would be so nice! And by braiding it, it would hopefully grab all the dumb layers in my hair that I have been trying to grow out for several years now.

One of my favorite bloggers Grosgrain Fabulous posted a TUTORIAL a couple weeks ago and I have been dying to try it out. I think I might ~~make~~ ask one of my sisters to be my guinea pig. And who knows, I have horrid heartburn, this baby might come out looking like Rapunzel and she can be my guinea pig. :)

Hooter Hider

2011-04-25T10:56:00.001-06:00

My biggest goal with having this baby is nursing. I am super intimidated by it because I know it’s something you have to work at and stick to in order to be successful and I know it will be painful, I will be tired, cranky and I don’t like doing things that I can’t get right away. But I can’t afford to buy formula and I would like to try to do what is best for the baby, So wish me luck!

Since I plan on nursing I had to make myself a hooter hider/nursing apron.

*Side Note – It’s really nice to finally be making all these “baby” things for myself! For years I would make them for friends and family and sometimes cry while doing so. I am so grateful that I have finally been given this opportunity to be a mother. And to be able to use my talents on things for me and the baby.

I really didn’t want to spend any money on this so I dug through my fabric stash and found the left over fabric from THIS apron I made the lovely “S”. I bought this fabric because it screamed her name and as I was sewing with it I fell in LOVE. I was so happy to see that I had so much left over.

I had everything else on hand including the boning, black fabric used for the inside, and D-Rings so this project was 100% free!!! Go me for being a hoarder of all things crafty. I have made many nursing aprons and each time I have made them different. I don’t have a pattern so I kinda make it up as I go which always makes me wish I had done something different. But I am learning and was pleasantly surprised at how this one turned out. I wanted to try something different and I used THIS as my inspiration. (She sells the patterns on her etsy shop if you want to make one of your own)

I am the worst model with my 9 month pregnant belly, but you get the idea.

I love the ruffle detail! I think I may be addicted to ruffles right now. And once I have used this hooter hider and have a better idea as to what I wish it did and didn’t do I think I will make a couple more.

Isn’t that pattern mixed with the colors beautiful?!

TIP: Do not dry these. It makes the boning do weird things. And I also think that I will use a thicker boning in the future. For this project I used a 1/4” boning because it’s what I had on hand. But I think an inch or so would be much better.

The Mister took these pics of me and as I was going through them weeding out the best shots and this pic was in the middle of them all. He sure loves our puppy. And since he got a bath yesterday I love him too. ;)

Dresses of Easter’s Past

2011-04-22T07:36:00.000-06:00

When I was younger my friend and I truly believed the Easter Bunny lived in our backyard in a tree. We would spend hours searching for the right piece of bark that was the secret button to get into the Easter Bunny’s lair. We never did succeed. But one of my most favorite things about Easter as a kid was that it meant a new dress. My mom would take us to the “material store” (as we called it) and we got to pick out a pattern and fabric and she would make them. For some reason this particular fabric and dress stick out in my memory the most.

It had the bunny rabbits all over it dressed in clothes. I LOVED it!

Check out my nasty bangs!!! So glad that trend is long gone!

Here were a few others I was able to dig up:

I REALLY wish baby girl was here already so I could make her a dress, but I guess I have the rest of forever to make her little dresses. Or at least until she decides she is too cool for Mommy’s homemade clothes.

What is your favorite Easter memory?

Hope you all have a wonderful Easter weekend! I hope the Easter Bunny brings me chocolate {the good kind, of course} and I wouldn’t be too disappointed if he decides to bring baby girl into this world either.

Combining two of my Favorite things

2011-04-21T07:10:00.000-06:00

IN LOVE! Never tried a pair of Christian Louboutin's on, but have heard they feel amazing!!

[source]

The Crib Skirt

2011-04-20T11:35:00.001-06:00

When looking for crib bedding I looked EVERYWHERE! I could NOT find anything I was in love with. I wanted non-traditional baby. I wanted her room to be something that could easily change as she grew and accommodate a possible future brother if it needed to. So I didn’t want pink. But I eventually broke down and decided to do a little pink and figured I would have to make my own bedding. And with making my own bedding it would be the fraction of the cost so if the next baby was a boy no biggie. I wouldn’t feel guilty spending the money on making a new crib skirt.

I bought these crib bumpers at Babies R Us.

And then searched high and low for a crib sheet that wasn’t baby pink or baby blue. And of course IKEA came through for me with an avocado green fitted sheet. I couldn’t find them online and when I went to IKEA yesterday they didn’t have the green sheets anywhere so I am worried I wont be able to purchase them ever again! So glad I bought a 2 pack when I did!

Now this was my inspiration for the crib skirt:

But I wasn’t that determined to make that many ruffles and since I am kind of lazy I did a folded ruffle instead of a gather ruffle. But it was much, much, much cheaper making them than buying the above. I used the cheapest cotton at Joann's and of course used coupons to purchase it. For the tan part {or the part that goes under the mattress} I used an old sheet (FREE). I cut everything to size and serged all the edges. Again, I am lazy and wasn’t about to hem all those layers! The only thing I dislike is how easily this fabric wrinkles. Ironing it is pointless because the second I put it on the crib it wrinkles. So I need a steamer.

Don’t look too close. I have some finishing touches left to do! And it’s obviously not perfect. But for the price I am in love. I only did ruffles on 3 sides because no metter where I place the crib it will have to be up against the wall on one side.

And here it is all put together!

I still have the quilt left to bind and need to have the chandelier hung. But her bed is almost complete.

please also ignore the yucky carpet. I wanted so badly to put wood flooring down and nice chunky molding at the base and crown molding at the ceiling, but we are on a budget. So instead we have obsessively cleaned the carpets like 3 times!

I finished the curtains in the same pink fabric, but I HATE them! Now I just have to figure something else out. I am thinking it’s too much pink and I need to go with a cream curtain. :( I hate when things don’t work out the way I plan.

Whooo?

2011-04-18T10:07:00.001-06:00

Somehow Erika and I met online awhile back. I remember it was because we were both dealing with infertility, but other than that I don’t recall the details. Since then we have kept in touch via internet. She was my sounding board, someone who understood my frustrations and crafty to boot! We just had a lot in common and it was great! After both of us dealing with infertility for too long we found out we were pregnant around the same time! It has been so fun to have our correspondence change from negative to positive. And the best part is we are both having girls!!! One of these days I plan on meeting her in real life and can’t wait! She was definitly God Sent during my darkest days. And I don’t think it was just pure coincidence we “met” when we did! I suggest everyone find themselves an Erika!

I am THE worst person at getting things in the mail, but since she is due not too long after me I knew I had to get her gift mailed out ASAP or it would never happen. So all these pics our with my crappy camera, with crappy lighting and taken as I was running out the door. So I am sorry for the terrible quality!

I couldn’t resist this adorable flannel fabric for her baby girl!

I had my mom make one of her awesome receiving blankets

Then I made: a Burp cloth and appliquéd onesie.

Bib

Taggie Toy – has a wipe wrapper inside so it makes noise too

I found this cute porcupine at Target on clerance awhile back and snagged a few because I couldn’t resist!

I finally have had some baby girls to add it to their gift baskets!

A “snail” clip - I wish I had done a different color because I feel like this one looks like a nest.

Now you HAVE to go HERE and see what Erika sent me! I about died!!!!

And for the record, I am SUPER snoopy and somehow didn’t peek at this blog post!

Leda Blossoms Rug

2011-04-15T10:00:00.001-06:00

I originally purchased this fabric [Leda Blossom from Joann’s] the day I found out we were having a girl. It was going to be her bedding. The only problem was it is upholstery fabric so it is itchy on the back side and wouldn’t really work for a quilt. But I was going to make it work if it killed me because I LOVED it and couldn’t find anything else that remotely interested me. I have since based the entire nursery off of those colors as well. But once I found the Far Far Away Fabric to use for her quilt I decided the Leda Blossom would make a great rug!

So I bought cotton bias tape {or quilt binding} and sewed it along all four edges. My machine wasn’t too fond of the thickness of this fabric so it’s not perfect, but it was a quick and easy.

And for $35 total I have a rug!

I have searched everywhere for a rug and holy cow are those things expensive!!!

I still have some more sewing to do and have several things to hang on the wall, but it’s getting there! I am now in search of a toy basket. I am thinking a galvanized tub similar to this one {painted of course} to go where her hair bow holder is in the picture above:

I will need it as a home for these guys!

George (mine since I was 1!), My Cabbage Patch Doll and Ryan’s Teddy

Rocking Horse

Book Shelf

Bow Holder

Breathing New Life into a Bookshelf

2011-04-14T15:19:00.001-06:00

Probably around 10 years ago my grandma gave me a pair of these bookshelves because they weren’t the right size for her room.

(please ignore my messy garage in all these pics)

These bookshelves are that cheap “fake” wood (probably from Wal-Mart), but have surprisingly held up really well. After we moved the furniture around in the nursery this weekend I realized it needed a little something else like a bookshelf, but I don’t have the money to buy anything so I scavenged my house and remembered these. I was going to eventually get rid of them once we got the office/craft room furnished so why not refinish one!? It’s a little taller than I wanted, but free = make do!

And again, I don’t care for blond wood so it HAD to be painted! I started with white primer – I had two cans on hand and then bought 2 cans. Since these aren’t real wood it HAD to have a good coat of primer or the paint just wont stick. Then I used the paint left over from painting the baby furniture. I used a small roller and a foam paint brush for the corners – it went on like a charm. (we used oil/alkyd paint by Valspar and mixed paint thinner in it when painting the furniture – the color is Eloquent Pearl by Glidden)

The only bummer about this paint is it takes a few days to fully dry, but it only took one coat.

Then I went to my favorite scrapbook store Scrapbooks Etc. and searched their huge room of paper for the perfect paper. I had something totally different in mind, but ended up with “Waiting For Santa: Wrapping Paper” by Webster’s Pages. It had all the rich colors (avocado green, mustard yellow and burnt orange) from the rug and the turquoise I used on the Rocking Horse and other pieces for the room.

[source]

I then Modge Podged the paper onto the backing of the bookcase.

I had to piece it together since the papers only came in 12x12. (wallpaper would be great for this too!) I brushed Modge Podge onto the shelving unit and the back of the paper. I tried my best to rub all the bubbles out, but sometimes it’s just impossible. Once that was dry I painted a coat of Modge Podge on top of the paper as well. This gives it a slight glossy look and keeps the paper from peeling. [Modge Podge dries rather quickly so you have to work fast!]

Once dry I put the 2nd shelf back in, but had a couple issues!! Since I had painted everything the shelf didn’t quite fit anymore!!!! I had to shove it in which then scratched up the paint!! I was SO mad and since I am pregnant I will admit I cried too! So I got my foam brush and paint back out and touched up the scratches. It doesn’t look as nice as it did before the scratching because it really needed primer again, but honestly I wanted to be done and I am probably the only one who will notice once everything is on the shelf.

I have to say I am pretty pleased despite the complications at the end.

And I am SO anxious for The Mister to get home to haul it into her room!

Total cost was under $8!

I had the book case, brushes, Modge Podge and paint on hand and I had a gift card to Scrapbooks Etc. (Thanks Sunny). The only thing I bought was the primer for under $4 a can at Home Depot. It took some patience and time, but I enjoy doing it!

Before

After

Swimming in Pink

2011-04-12T11:40:00.001-06:00

I know I said I wanted to stay away from using the cliché pink in the nursery, BUT… c’mon, the babe is a girl and it’s my second favorite color!

I couldn’t resist using some pink!

And today I feel like I am swimming in it.

Finally bought my knobs for the changing table and Armoire. I went to Hobby Lobby several times with 40% off coupons.

This is all the fabric for the curtains and crib skirt. I spent a huge chunk of time yesterday at my mom’s serging all the pieces. Thank goodness for sergers! It will most definitly cut down my time spent sewing drastically. And a little secret about me… I loathe hemming!!! I need me a serger! And if it weren’t for my mom’s help I would have been so lost on getting these pieces cut and ready. I swear this kid has sucked every last drop of brain out of me! This is a fairly simple project, but holy cow did it confuse me. Now I need to spend way too much time ironing… another huge dislike of mine!

And in between ironing, sewing and putting knobs in I am spray painting a few things.

I am hoping to have all my projects done and the nursery complete by this weekend!

36 days to go!!!

Can’t Into Cans

2011-04-08T09:59:00.001-06:00

Photo from Parade of Homes HERE

You ARE Perfect!

2011-04-07T08:06:00.000-06:00

I can't get this song out of my head! I LOVE it! But this morning as I was listening to it I thought of my little sisters who are much younger than me. They have yet to hit the hard years of Junior High and High School and all the pressures that come with it. It was no walk in the park when I was there and I know it has only gotten harder. And to be honest I don't think you could pay me enough to re-live those years. Being so insecure is terrible! However, if I could go back knowing what I know now it would have been so much easier.

So little sisters, my biggest advice to you is to be you!

"Pretty pretty please, don't you ever ever feel
Like you're less than, less than perfect..
Pretty pretty please, if you ever ever feel like you're nothing,
you are perfect to me!"

You truly are perfect to me! Don't worry what others say or do, be confident and love who you are. And have fun!

Love you!!!

Trusty Steed

2011-04-06T11:10:00.001-06:00

This project was a LONG time coming and I had no original intentions of it taking so long. If I wasn’t just as stubborn as this horse I would have thrown in the towel. I bought this beauty from craigslist for $10 months ago. The lady was concerned I wouldn’t want it because it had a small dent in the seat! Psh! Little did she know that I love the worn and used look! It just makes my distressing job easier! I was like a kid in a candy store I was so happy to find it. But we all know I do not care for blond wood and wanted it to be a bit more antiqued looking.

So I took off the bridal, ears and screws and put them in a baggie in a “safe” place. And then taped off the hair and eyes and cleaned it really well. I painted the first coat of my favorite spray paint color “Catalina Mist” and let it dry over night.

I started applying the second coat the next day and the paint started crackling! This would have been fine except I didn’t prime it a darker color and “distressing” it would look stupid with blond underneath. (mistake number one – not priming!) So I used paint thinner and sanded down all the crackling parts and put the dang horse in the garage for a month or so! I was so irritated.

(No worries, I wear a mask EVERYTIME I paint something. It’s irratating, but I also can’t let other people do my spray painting for me)

When I finally felt like tackling the beast again I bought brown primer and painted over the turquoise. [I know I should have sanded the entire horse, but I was too angry. This $10 horse had turned into a nightmare] Thankfully the primer went on nicely!

Then two coats of the “Catalina Mist”. (I ended up spending more on spray paint then I did on the horse!) I took a light weight sandpaper and distressed the edges a bit. And lastly I put a coat of Deft Clear Wood Finish to seal it.

Once the horse was ready to be put back together I could not find that baggie with the screws and ears! That “safe” place was no where to be found which put my project on hold, AGAIN! Finally I got around to getting some small screws and making a new bridal and ears with some pleather I had laying around.

Now my little princess has a trusty steed!

Funny story: I was working on this horse and the Mister asked me how old the babe would have to be to ride it. He then asked “3 months old?” I laughed so hard. My dear sweet husband does not have a clue. I told him she is more than welcome to ride it at 3 months with his assistance. ;)

Closet Jealousy

2011-04-05T16:49:00.001-06:00

One of my two passions are fashion and interior design. I spend too much time drooling, wishing and wanting over those two subjects. But one of my BIGGEST desires in life is to have a fabulous closet filled with fabulous clothing!!! It combines my love for both fashion and design! I am one step in the right direction because I currently have my own walk in closet! It was what sold me on our house - A his and hers walk in closet in the master bedroom! Mine is far from dreamy and far from containing fabulous clothes, but hey it’s full of clothes and it’s all mine.

However, if I had one wish it would be to have a closet that looked like THIS:

THIS is gorgeous!

THIS turns me on!

clean, organized, spacious, color coded and that chandelier OH MY!

I am UBER jealous!

Some day! Some day!

Check out more of her house on Parade of Homes HERE.

The Little Fox Art Love

2011-04-05T11:44:00.001-06:00

I have been searching everywhere for vintage fairytale/nursery rhyme books that have great art that I can frame for the nursery. I have given up on thrift stores and started searching Etsy.com today and stumbled on this artist:

One Little Fox

She has SO many great pieces, but these are my favorites:

I think I will be ordering this Little Miss Muffet for the nursery for sure.

[source]

[source] [source]

There are SO many more on her Etsy shop that are DARLING!

I really wish I could paint and draw like this!!!

My Bags are Packed, I’m Ready to Go…

2011-04-04T14:40:00.001-06:00

[source]

Ok, so my bags aren’t really packed, but I really like that line of the song. I am 6 weeks and 2 days away from my due date! I can NOT believe it. So my current obsession is packing my hospital bag.

But what to pack??

What did you feel was a must?

[source]

I read somewhere how someone not only packed the things she would need for her and baby, but also packed a “Daddy Survival Kit'” with Daddy’s favorite treats, drinks, books… etc. So I plan on getting the mister some of his favorite snacks. And I am most definitly packing him a toothbrush, mouthwash and ACT because he is so anal about his teeth. He went to school to make fake teeth (dental lab tech) and learned all about the mouth and has since been so crazy about cleaning his teeth. It literally takes him 30 minutes each night to brush, floss, rinse… and whatever else he does. I call it his nightly ritual. Anyhow, I figure he will be comfortable spending lots of time at the hospital if he has his mouth survival kit. ;)

I also read that they will not allow you to wear contacts… I know this sounds vain, but I really do not want pictures in my glasses. So someone please tell me it’s false.

Grey's Musical

2011-04-03T17:03:00.000-06:00

I have watched Grey's Anatomy from the beginning. It's had it's ups and downs and I actually stopped watching it for awhile because it lost it's mojo, but it's back on track. And last week they tried to join the musical world and have an entire episode with singing... it wasn't so great. In fact I didn't like it at all. Which is odd because I LOVE music. But they just aren't Glee.

Anyhow, I knew I would be crying a lot during this one because it involved a pregnant doctor getting in a car accident and the brink of death. Not a good episode for a super paranoid pregnant gal to watch. However, the part that actually had me crying the most was this one:

I purposely avoided baby showers for the last 4 years because I wasn't emotionally stable enough to walk in with a smile on my face although I was genuinely happy for my friends I was raging with anger and jealousy as well.

I don't know if it's just me, but it seems TV has been portraying infertility a lot more lately and I appreciate it. They may not always get it right, but as THIS LOVELY LADY said... "Grey's finally gets it right"

I Do

2011-04-01T10:20:00.001-06:00

It’s wedding season!

I LOVE weddings!

I LOVE browsing through wedding magazines while standing in line at the grocery store!

I LOVE finding new wedding blogs!

I LOVE seeing reception decor!

I LOVE spending crazy amounts of time looking at wedding photography blogs!

I LOVE flipping through endless pictures of wedding gowns!

But most of all I LOVE my man!

And I LOVE remembering how exciting it was to marry him!

I was scared out of my mind and sadly don’t remember much about our actual wedding because my palms were sweating and I was shaking. But the Mister made up a secret handshake that he did throughout the majority of the ceremony that kept me calm.

I kept our wedding as simple as possible and it was perfect. {however I secretly dream of how I would do the wedding if we were to do it again. My style changes all the time and would totally renew our vows like every year just to decorate a reception hall in my newly fantasized wedding theme and let’s not forget the wedding on the beach I have always dreamed of}

The thing that was most important was he married me in the place I dreamed of getting married since I first laid eyes on it at the tender age of 12. The Manti Temple was my castle and he was and still is my prince charming. And I am so glad we both said I Do for Forever!

If only I had this adorable sign back then:

Isn’t this the CUTEST thing ever!? Go HERE

It’s been almost 6.5 years and I can honestly say I fall in love with him more and more each day. And this baby growing within me has made me love him in a whole new way.

Happy Friday!

P.S. – I despise April Fools Day! I Do!

If I Only Had a Brain…

2011-03-31T13:22:00.001-06:00

I have been working on this dang rocking horse for the nursery for MONTHS! (more to come on that later, hopefully) I was so excited to finally be finished with it today, but guess what? I can’t find the baggie that contains the screws and ears for it! I made new reigns and have no problem making new ears too, but I need those darn screws! We don’t have any screws short enough on hand and I really don’t feel like showering and getting dressed and driving 5 miles to Home Depot to buy screws. (Plus it’s 90 degrees out! YUCK!) I have turned my house upside down looking for them! They are no where! I know I put them in a “safe” place, but I can not remember for the life of me where that “safe” place is.

You see, I have a strange memory. I remember things like where I placed things or where I saw things – basically I have a visual memory. If I saw it written down or drove there once I can remember it or drive to that exact location all by going back into my photographic memory. Taking tests in school was a synch as long as I could see it right before the test. However, I have never been good at remembering things that don’t have a visual attached. My friends know to text me to remind me we are meeting up for lunch and what not because otherwise I will not remember.

BUT, and this is a huge but, ever since getting preggers I can’t remember a damn thing! I have seriously become so stupid and forgetful! I had to get a planner and write EVERYTHING down and I refer to that planner several times a day. I have heard that the memory never returns even after having the baby and I am really nervous about this. I just hope I can at least get my smarts back. I have never felt so dumb in my life. I keep telling the Mister that this baby girl better be a brain because she has completely sucked mine out of me.

Wow, that was long and boring… apparently I have turned into a mad rambler too. So I switched gears after much sulking and I am now working the babe’s quilt until I can find those flippin screws!

I drug my machine downstairs so I could watch TV… and yes, that is my TV boyfriend crush Nate Berkus! If he were straight Ryan might have to worry. ;)

Love This…

2011-03-28T13:49:00.001-06:00

[source]

Sorry, I think my blog has turned into a baby blog, but I can’t help it.

That’s what is on the brain {and all my organs} these days.

I have lots of projects going on, but guess who is sick AGAIN!? It’s getting old and slowing this already sluggish body down. I am blaming it on the weather not being able to decide if it wants to be hot or cold.

One of my projects is slow in progress, but hopefully it will succeed even though one lost it’s life today:

The garage door be-headed it. I won’t name any names, but the perpetrator better come home with a new red bell pepper plant.

Happy Creative Friday!

2011-03-25T12:57:00.001-06:00

[source]

Our neighbors are having a garage sale today and I just scored two maternity dresses for FREE! They are a tad big, but nothing a little taking in can’t fix. yippee! My weekend is off to great start! Hope yours is too!

You and I

2011-03-24T13:34:00.000-06:00

We got this photo taken at my cousin’s wedding reception by Ben Christensen Photography and I fell in love with it! It shows our personalities and is simple and fun! I have been dying to blow it up and put it on canvas and saw an offer from the Canvas People and decided to jump in and order. (I compared the pricing at Costco with Canvas People with shipping and Canvas People were a tad cheaper with the offer code) I really wanted a larger print, but settled with the 11x14 because it was what I could afford at the time. I got it less than a week later and couldn’t be happier with the outcome!

I have some secret plans for it as late anniversary gift for my lover and just have to finish up a few other crafty projects in order to reveal it. I of course couldn’t keep the canvas a secret though… I was just TOO excited!

Every time I hear this song by Ingrid Michaelson I think of our picture and us. I bet you can guess what my favorite line of the song is. ;)

Spanx Please!

2011-03-21T10:45:00.001-06:00

While my girlfriend was in town she highly recommended getting these pregnancy spanx from Motherhood Maternity. I didn’t even have to stop and think about it. I just wish I had known about these from the beginning. I had no idea they made pregnancy spanx and even better is they are super comfortable! I personally have not liked any of my maternity pants that have the tummy panel. They are uncomfortable and always seem too tight so I was a little skeptical about these spanx coming all the way to my boobs. But seriously, I don’t even notice it! I wear them EVERYTIME I wear a skirt or dress. They are amazing and really do smooth out my nasty parts including the lovely love handles that have formed! And the best part is they are under $17! I think I paid more for my Target spanx knock-offs that I wore before getting pregnant.

These are most definitly going on my pregnancy must have list!!!

Go HERE at Motherhood Maternity.

(this is what the package at the store looks like)

Baby Gear

2011-03-17T13:28:00.001-06:00

I am counting down the days until baby girl makes her appearance into this world. I am trying to stay busy with lots of sewing projects to complete her room, but had to take a break. Until now I told my sister a baby shower was not to be spoken of. I was just so convinced we would never get to meet this little girl, but her big day is fast approaching so I must finish registering and allow a shower to happen. This is where I need all of you in blog land to help me out.

What baby items do you feel are must haves??

I have several things I think I want, but really need people who have experience to help me out.

Along with anything else you feel is a must for mom too.

Here are a few things I have heard are musts {besides the obvious of diapers, wipes, car seat, crib, clothing}:

* The Bumbo – which I was generously already given. :)

[source]

* The Boppy Pillow

[source]

* I am getting really paranoid about SIDS and almost feel I HAVE to have this for my own sanity:

[source]

Now here is where it get’s tricky, there are so many carriers/slings out there. Which do you prefer?

I was thankfully already given a Bjorn and I purchased a Seven Sling for dirt cheap when I first found out I was pregnant, but I am curious about the others. (I am sure it depends on you and your baby as to which one is the “best”.) I have seen so many people with a Moby Wrap and I am curious about that one. But being that I like fashion I feel it is ugly and basically pointless to have a shirt on while wearing it. Plus I live Arizona, I am imagining it would be extremely hot… any input on these and other wraps?

OR OR

[source] [source] [source]

I am sure there are SO many more things, but I just can’t think of anything…

Unfair

2011-03-16T21:31:00.000-06:00

I have mentioned MANY times that although we are pregnant we still struggled with infertility for over 4 years and it is still and will always be a HUGE part of us. It was a nightmare to put it lightly. A nightmare that I could never even begin to accurately describe the raw and true feelings of going through such a thing. I refuse to forget those days and know that we may still have struggles in the future.

While struggling on the infertility roller coaster I followed several other blogs documenting their struggles because I could relate. They were some of the few who knew how I felt. And recently I found this blog called from IF to When. And the other day she posted about forking over the money for a lap, adoption fees, IVF, etc. I couldn't even begin to tell you how relieved I felt while reading it because I felt the same thing SO many times. It's unfair. I harbored so many angry/bitter feelings, but felt I was unable to express them because I knew no-one would understand and I knew I could hurt feelings by expressing mine. But if you would like to have a very small insight to those feelings I suggest you read THIS post. I will warn you she swears, but by golly I said worse in my mind while in my deepest darkest moments.

I am still not over the bitterness and anger and someday I pray that I can look back and say I am grateful for this trial. But today I am grateful for bold and raw people that allowed me to relate through their blogs.

Stole THIS from the lovely Erika

Quilting Lessons in Session

2011-03-16T08:05:00.000-06:00

I started my quilting lessons this week. I will admit that quilting will most likely not become my new hobby. However, I am loving how it is turning out and I LOVE that I am making something for my baby girl that she may have forever like the quilt my mom made for me some 27 plus years ago. And if it weren’t for my mom and sister’s help I would have thrown in the towel after cutting all the pieces out! It’s a lot of work!

Here’s a sneak peak:

And here is my baby blanket. So glad my mom hung onto this for me for all these years!

Purple No More

2011-03-15T08:00:00.000-06:00

This past weekend my husband paid some much needed attention to our front door. You see it was originally purple! Yes, I said purple!

And with some left over Valspar Exterior paint borrowed from our Pa we now have a brown door!

Total cost of make over was $0!!! LOVE those kind of projects!

Don’t you think it goes much better with the gorgeous stucco house than the purple did?

(obviously being sarcastic with the gorgeous part, but in AZ your options are stucco or stucco)

And then I added my finishing touch of an Easter wreath I got on clearance last year at Joann’s. Much, much better!

All the homes in our cul-de-sac have a purple door so we hope we don’t get into trouble with HOA or as the mister calls them… the Home Nazis

Handwriting Game

2011-03-14T08:03:00.000-06:00

I saw this “game” on THIS cute girl’s blog and wanted to play. I use to practice my handwriting like no other in junior high and high school! But you must remember that was before facebook and texting. I didn’t even know how to use the internet in high school and my cell phone was a nokia block! So writing notes was the way to go. I had all sorts of cute fonts I could do and when I would get bored I would switch up how I wrote several letters like a’s, s’s, t’s … etc. I also can not read or write in cursive! I learned it in second grade and I specifically remember my teacher telling us that we would use it for the rest of our lives and in junior high that is all your teachers will let you use. Well guess what? She was wrong. I never used it again! And I can’t imagine any teacher wanting their students to use cursive. Can you imagine grading those papers? I wish I could write cute cursive. But to be honest I have to have my husband read my birthday cards my grandma sends me because I have a hard time deciphering the letters. Maybe my junior high teachers failed me?

I was told that if you would write these curly-q’s over and over again it would improve your handwriting so I would spend hours writing these:

The rule was to not lift your pen off the page and to make each loop the same. As you can see I need improvement.

I use to LOVE my handwriting, but since I started working office jobs at 18 I essentially stopped writing. I use to be an avid journal writer and now, if and when I journal it’s on the computer. I am really bummed I haven’t been writing in my journal because it is so much fun to go back and see how my handwriting has changed and improved or in this case gone down hill. I can not write anywhere near as cute as I use to and when I do write on the outside of a card or for a project I practice what I am going to write a bazillion times.

I am also SUPER picky about what I will write with! I prefer the sharpie ultra fine point markers. And while I am writing my paper has to be kind of sideways.

[source]

Enough about me here’s how to play the game:

Answer the following questions in your handwriting and post a picture of it.

The Questions:
1. What's your name and blogger name?
2. What your blog's URL?
3. Write "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog."
4. Favorite quote?
5. Favorite song?
6. Favorite band/singers?
7. Anything else you want to say?

(don’t judge me if I misspelled anything)

Now I am inviting any and all of you to play!

You know you want to!

When was the last time you wrote a handwritten note?

I think my goal for the week is to write a note and mail it to someone… I think you should too!

P.S. – Did you know that you can get your handwriting into a free font??? Go HERE to do it! (You can also download all the cute fonts for free!) I have been dying to to it, but I am such a perfectionist that it would take me a year just to turn in my sample to her. I am not even going to admit how many times it took me to perfect my questions to post here.

P.P.S – I made my magnets from American Crafts “Flair” embellishments by taking off the sticker on the back and hot gluing a magnet. Super easy and cute!

Prayers

2011-03-11T09:30:00.001-07:00

I saved this link HERE from Craftaholics Anonymous because I loved this:

I do believe that prayer can change things. And with waking up to the news of the earthquakes and tsunamis I pray for everyone affected by this and pray for everyone’s safety and comfort for the loss of loved ones. I also pray for all my friends who are struggling with various things right now. This week has been a roller coaster of good and bad news from friends and loved ones. And I want them to know they are in our thoughts and prayers.

I try to keep religion and politics off this blog, but today I can’t help but express my gratitude for prayer. As mentioned in THIS post we struggled with infertility for over 4 years and I know that it is because of prayers from so many that I now have a basketball sized belly with a baby girl growing inside. And I want to publicly thank all of you for those prayers.

30 Weeks & Counting

{Dress & Cardigan - Down East, Shoes – Guess, Earrings – gift}

I pray that everyone has a wonderful weekend and that the worst is over in Japan.